The Climb

Don't ask me why, but I looked around before I stepped off the asphalt path onto the almost undetectable trail. Perhaps it is because stepping off the asphalt is like escaping ... slipping away from so-called civilization into a world seldom explored by people. As I thought about it, it is a selfish act. I don't want anyone to see me because I don't want anyone to follow me. I'm going up to a realm where the higher I go the fewer people I will see.

Almost immediately I pass through a line of trees and shrubs which hide me from any questioning eyes. Have you ever tip-toed past someone in a game of hide-and-seek and felt that excited tension in your stomach? It is so intense as I scurry to safety behind the trees. "I made it," I think to myself. I got away without being seen. At that point there is the sense of relief. You feel like a puddle on the ground as all of the tension in your body and the fear in your brain is released and runs out of you. At least that's how I felt. It was so intense and so overwhelmingly uplifting that I had to stop for a while to enjoy it and to regain my composure.

As I stepped out on the trail and looked up at the mountain I became giddy. I've never been stoned but I can't imagine a drug high to be any more enjoyable. Give me my 'far-away-from-civilization-enjoying-the-solitude-and-excitement-of-the-wilderness' fix and I'll be happy.

The path leads through acres and acres of high alpine meadows. From the magnificent color and rugged terrain you'd never guess of the struggle for survival that goes on here constantly. I am careful to stay on the path. A long-term trampling study that was conducted at Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana found that a single foot print on sub-alpine vegetation can take 50-80 years to recover. That time is almost doubled for the high alpine vegetation. Yes, some vegetation is lost when indigenous animals walk and feed on the meadows, but their presence is a part of the balance and helps the vegetation survive. For example, hooves and bear claws prep the soil for seeds and provides oxygen. Human foot prints just destroy. Nothing more. We are the destructive intruder into this world and I try my best to makes a minimal impact. Staying on the trail is the best start.

That isn't always the easiest thing to do. The local animals also like the trails and there are times when I must share with a big Billy or some other animal. I have had more times than I can count where I had to carefully step onto a large outcrop of rock and permit the animal have the right-of-way. They give me a wary glance as they pass but, for the most part, ignore me. I stand in awe.

As I move through the meadows I scan the horizon for large ungulates, bears, mountain lions and other animals for whom this is home. Up here I've seen the illusive and magnificent wolverine as well as the majestic grizzly bear. You don't see the mountain lion, but they see you. They are always in predator mode. I usually count on the marmot, columbian ground squirrel and other small animals to let me know if there is a predator in the area.

After the expanse of meadows I pass along a very open ledge. On my left is a steep outcropping of rock which creates countless small waterfalls as water makes its way off the mountain. There is one stream which is wide and deep enough to force me to ford. To my right the rocky meadow drops off sharply and disappears about thirty yards away where it drops two to three hundred feet.

The trail begins its steep ascent. I climb from one narrow ledge of bare rock to the next. I am well aware that I'm walking on some of the oldest rock on earth. I am on rock that is billions of years old. This is rock that, elsewhere, would be found many hundred of feet below ground, not the better part of a mile and a quarter up.

All round me are rocks that indicate that this area was once at the bottom of an ocean some eighty miles west. There are large boulders that show the cracks that form when mud dries in the hot sun. There are also those that display the ripples created by millions of years of wave and tides. Then there are the stromatolites. Stromatolites are the fossils of the oldest living organism on the planet. The cynobacteria that died and formed stromatolites are responsible for there being air on planet Earth. On a previous climb I had found stromatolites a few hundred feet from the top of the mountain. This day I discovered an entire band of them at about 7,000 feet which could be followed for quite some distance.

I found myself so immersed in ancient ancient that I almost expected to look up and see some animal from the Cenozoic period checking to see if I am edible as I began to climb over large outcroppings. It wasn't long before I had to stop after each short ascent to look for the next best avenue to the top.

Many climbers just go across a scree field to a saddle between the two mountains and then up to the summit. I don't like to try to cross scree. I don't feel I have the skill and that scares me. The one scree field covers several acres with an elevation change between bottom and top of at least sixty feet. If you start sliding out of control on that scree field you have a very long drop at the bottom.

Even before you get to the top of the mountain you have a panoramic view in all directions.

People ask 'why do you go up there?' I laugh as I stand looking out over the great wilderness. The cold wind is painfully stinging any exposed portion of my face. I can't imagine how it would feel to be up here on a rainy or snowy day. But I look out at the wilderness world which I love. I see everything that is good and beautiful and positive in the world. Here and in that wilderness I feel free and I experience peace.

Why am I up here? I look back down toward the civilization where I carefully sneaked onto the path that brought me here. Why am I up here? The answer was simple . . . because "they" are down there.

The Joy of Full-Timing

We're probably singing "on the road
again" along with Willie Nelson.

It is interesting. No one in our generation seems to be neutral about the idea of full-timing; i.e. your home being wherever in this great land you happen to be. Of those who don't full-time or spend the majority of their time on the road, there are a fair number who think we're crazy. After working hard all your life, why would you want to give up all of the "comforts" of just staying home? There's obviously a debate built into that question which I will ignore for now. Suffice it to say, those of us who live this life don't see it that way. This is evidenced by those who are openly envious of our life-style.

The first great joy about full-timing is the ability to do it. Most people have too much debt. Conspicuous consumption is still a major behavior problem in the US. Then everything has to be bigger . . . bigger than before, bigger than your neighbor's, bigger than last year's model, etc. As a result we have people attempting to full-time and ending up trading their home mortgage for a big class-A RV loan, which can be as big or bigger than the mortgage, and still carrying their heavy consumer credit card debt. Other people are not physically able to hit the road. I really feel sorry for them because there are a lot of such people who would love and be willing to do what we're doing. Then there are those who are afraid to venture into the unknown. A lot of them will claim that they are morally or ethically tied to a town, but we know that's not true. Truth be known most of this group are people who are afraid of anything new or different. They don't want to try new experiences or eat new foods, and are really terrified of having to deal with and/or live among people who look, dress and/or act differently than "at home". I have sympathy for this group as well. There's nothing wrong with admitting that you're afraid to leave home or venture into the unknown. They're generally the ones who try to convince me that I'm crazy for doing it. The last, and probably largest group, are those who just don't care. They're perfectly happy sitting on the sofa watching television or on the porch watching the grass grow. But that's their choice and that's okay.

Why would you want to stay in an RV city when you can
stay in places like this. (Our first year on the road.)

One of our habits that makes full-timing a whole lots more affordable is that we do not use commercial campgrounds like KOA. There's nothing wrong with places like KOA, but we don't need or want the city-like set up. Since we started traveling we have only stayed in a KOA once. That was when we were making our way to Glacier. We had taken the middle route - straight across Missouri and Kansas to Denver and turn north. We selected this route because North and South Dakota were getting hit by blizzards. We got into the far western end of Kansas and found ourselves in driving rain with tornadoes in front and behind us. We got off the road and went to ground at a little KOA. They even had a tornado shelter which we thankfully didn't need. The next morning we arrived in Denver and turned north only to run into the snow we were trying to avoid.

Some people don't want to consider staying anywhere where they do not have full utilities. We don't care. The only things we have that can't be run by a 12 volt battery system is the microwave, air conditioner and television. We have only use our AC a couple of times in three years, so not having power to run it doesn't bother us in the least. The same is true of the microwave. The television is actually only attached to a blue ray player. We do enjoy watching movies but we don't do it a lot and it doesn't bother us not to have it. We see campers and full-timers who will run a generator 6 hours a day or want to switch camp sites because they think they can get better TV reception at a different site. If this is what they want to do, that's fine. It isn't what we like.

We love to stay in State parks, National Forests and National Parks. National Forests have places where you can stay for free or as little as $5 not counting the 50% off I get with my senior pass. We stay in such places whenever possible while we're traveling and are exploring larger National Forests for places we would enjoy spending some time. We're looking forward to trying a place in Arizona named Quartzite. It is a small town surrounded by BLM land in the desert where you can stay for free. The town makes its living during the winter months by having tens of thousands of campers and full-timers stay there for anything from a few days to a couple of months. You can stay at a full-utility campground in the town or boon-dock in the desert. The town has a different show or festival each week - antique car show, quilt shows, jewelry fairs, etc. Vendors set up tents and sell just about anything legal. Friends and colleagues who have gone there say it is something to be experienced at least once.

Of course we love living in Glacier National Park. At this point in our lives that's our raison d'etre. When my son-in-law asked why we didn't take one of the paid Ranger positions Pamela pointed out that we are two of twelve people who actually get to live in the park. Having seen the park, he conceded the point. This year (2016) we have the privilege of being here the entire camping season. We are the first ones, of whom we are aware, to have done this. We actually had two nights in May when we were the only humans inside the park on the west side of the Continental Divide. That was exciting. Imagine having about 1/2 of a 1,500 square mile park all to yourselves. We will be the last ones out of the campgrounds the end of this month. The thing one must remember about being a National Park Service volunteer is that you must really love it to do it. People who try campground volunteering just to get a place to park don't last long. We love what we do so much that it is hard to call it work even if our work days do average 14 hours long. If we ever get to the point that that isn't true, we'll quit.

When we travel from one destination to the next we stop at night at National Forest Service mini-campgrounds and pull-outs or at a Pilot Truck Stop. I don't like Walmart because they don't have any security. A truck stop like Flying J, Pilot, etc., keep a close watch on their lots. We love the west because we love the Rocky Mountains and you're not too far from the Pacific Ocean. We can easily find places to park our comfortable home, Sinni, near hiking, biking, kayaking, and scuba diving opportunities. Montana and the other Rocky Mountain states are also great if you just want to find a quiet and peaceful place with a magnificent view far away from the terror, perils and congestion of so-call "civilization." Such places are not as easy to find east of the Rockies.

Going kayaking with friends from northern Illinois in
central Indiana.  A great day!

We also quickly learned that having friends stretched out across the country makes for a lot of fun. It is fun to go from one place to another visiting friends along the way. The year before last we did a 1,400 mile trip that culminated in Jacksonville, Florida and stayed with or near friends every night. Not counting Montana, we know 43 couples or individuals in 21 states and two Canadian provinces from California to Maine who would be unhappy with us if we didn't visit them when we pass near them. Twenty-four of these are couples or individuals whom we met through the NPS. The park service is very much of a big family. If we were to travel from Glacier to northern Arizona we would have seven places along the way where friends would want an explanation if we didn't at least stop and have lunch with them.

Yes, some would call us crazy. For most of our days we have no idea what adventure the day will bring. The other day, for example, we finished our rounds and were visiting with friends who were camping with us. It was a beautiful Montana fall day in the mid-50s. We decided to take a bicycle ride. Before we got to the end of our campground we had changed the destination of the bike ride. By the time we had gone three or four miles we got talking about kayaking the white-water river next to us. That's all it took. We raced back to the campground, got our kayaks and finished the day taking our first solo white-water kayak trip down McDonald Creek. There was no agenda. For a fair portion of our year we have no idea, or perhaps an inkling of an idea, where we will be at the end of the day. When we made the 2010 mile trip from southern Indiana to Glacier last spring, we just pointed the nose of our truck in a westerly direction and pushed the gas. We spent the first night camped right on the bank of the Mississippi. The second night was on a lovely lake in southern Minnesota. The third night was in the "North Dakota Badlands" at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The last night was in a city park in north central Montana. At the beginning of each of those days we had no idea where we would be spending the night.

Some may call us crazy. However, if this life-style is crazy, I love being crazy!   

Destination versus Journey

The journey. An evening after a days driving. 

Being a traveler isn't just about the journey or the destination. Pamela and I find that for us both are important. There are times that the destination necessarily takes such priority that we are not as intent upon the journey. The last time this was true was two years ago when we only had three days to get from Evansville, IN to West Glacier, MT - 2010 miles. We didn't go over the 65 mph trailer tire limitation but would drive for 12+ hours a day and stop for the night at a Pilot or Flying J. We hope not to repeat such a trip, but we realize that that may be unrealistic. Most of the time the destination is some place we are anxious to visit, but we plan to stay a while so we can take our time and enjoy the journey there. We feel sorry for the young folks who are so limited by time off from work and the kids school schedule that they race off to a vacation spot. They miss the joys of getting there and their visit is always overshadowed and activities determined by the mandatory departure in order to get home.

Stopped for the night at a State Park in Minnesota. 

Just yesterday a frantic camper came to our door. The hydraulic levelers on their fifth-wheel trailer would not retract. They were in a panic. They live in Canada and school was to start the next day. Their entire trip to Glacier was marred by this experience. Had they had our schedule, or lack thereof, the problem would have been little more than a costly inconvenience. Hang in their, young people, your day will come. We're working hard to try to make sure there are still magnificent forests and wilderness areas for you and your children.

The destination.  Looking north from our place at Sprague
Creek, Glacier National Park where we spent 5 months.

Pamela and I travel the back roads whenever possible. After all, trailer tires are rated for <65 mph. Besides missing a lot of the countryside when you travel the interstate, an interstate is boring. You can't really go much faster on an interstate. There are some times when you just have to suck it up and take an interstate. On our last trip of 2000+ miles we spent less than 100 miles of that on interstates. Pamela is a great navigator. She even takes us down county roads. She uses a paper map and smart-phone. She's only had one time that she had us going down a narrow country road and run out of road. It was fun trying to turn 38 feet of truck and trailer around on a country road. You don't exactly do a three-point turn. In her defense, all the maps indicated that the road went through. We have friends that will not travel more than 100 miles in a day. We'd like to be more like them but perhaps not limit our distance quite so much. We prefer to be able to stop in mid afternoon so we have time to explore our surroundings if we're not planning to stay there for days. Our goal is - if we don't end up in a Flying J or Pilot station - to spend a day or two each place we stop.

You never know who's going to stop by your campsite.
They tried to walk between Willy and the truck but
decided it was too close so walked around.

The great thing about taking the 'road less traveled' is what you see and learn and encounter and find yourself doing. We have found lovely and interesting villages that really deserve to be seen and appreciated but I'd bet that most of the people in the nearest city don't know they exist. We've stayed in city parks. We've enjoyed countless mom-n-pop stores and restaurants. We've met many friendly and interesting people and heard their stories - from the widow who continues to run a back-country campground some 15 miles down a gravel country lane in eastern Kentucky south of Natural Bridge to the man from PA who was waiting tables in Montana and travels around the country.

There's a small town in the Idaho panhandle named Wallace that people can now speed past - well, actually speed over - and never know its story or meet its people. Wallace has a fascinating history. More silver has been mined and shipped from Wallace in the past 100 years than anywhere else in the world. It has a very wild west history and has played host to senators, governors and presidents. It has a great little brewery and all of the old town buildings are on the national registry. Wallace is in a very narrow canyon. When I-90 came along it was just going to level Wallace. (The biggest problem with so-called progress is that no one asks whether we should really do the project.) The people of Wallace fought back and kept the construction in court. While construction was tied up in court the people in the town very quietly, so as not to draw attention, filed and got every one of their old town buildings listed on the national register of historic buildings. Those building then could not be moved or destroyed. If you travel the Idaho stretch of I-90 today you will go on a bridge up against the side of a mountain above the town. Small town - 1. Thoughtless development - 0!

Destinations are important. For us destinations are places we want to visit and perhaps spend from a few weeks to a few months. I think that destinations are important. Designating destinations helps complete that bucket-list which, for us, is filled to overflowing. At the same time getting to those destinations is not only a significant part of the joy of the adventure but an important part of the trip. If one does not take their time getting to the destination, it not only reduces the overall enjoyment of being on the road but makes us personally poor. We do not learn and grow. If we do not learn and grow we will not enjoy the experience as much. On the micro level science has found that when the brain stops learning it dies. I believe that this is also true on the macro level. The journey justifies the destination. The destination gives reason to the journey.  

The New Home

Sinni looks so much bigger but is only 4 ft longer.

Arthritis pain had me awake when I heard the furnace come on. A furnace with floor ducts and auto-ignition (no pilot needed) is really nice. We loved Willy and could keep him plenty warm with a small space heater. Comparing square footage, Nitsitapiisinni (Sinni for short) is only 32 square feet bigger than Willy. However, when you take into consideration the higher ceiling you find that Sinni is 352 cubic feet bigger. That's a difference and take more to heat.

The people who bought Willy called yesterday to ask about winterizing. Since we used Willy year around and never had him in serious snow country like northwestern Montana during the winter, I couldn't be a whole lot of help. Nevertheless we had a nice chat. They have been living in Willy. They experienced their first night listening to the rain and loved it. Especially with a light rain, Willy always felt safe and cozy. I think that same rain storm helped me bond more with Sinni. It is taking a bit of time to become accustomed to things not being vintage.

Willy hitched up and ready to go. What a traveler!

Despite all the comforts of Willy, Pamela felt more like she was camping in Willy. Since to me 'camping' is sleeping on the ground with little or nothing between you and the elements, a fire as your sole source of warmth, a tree or bush is your bathroom, and removing the word 'comfort' from your vocabulary for the sake of the thrill of being that close to nature, I've never really thought of our time living in Willy as 'camping'. The closest I think I came to calling what we were doing 'camping' were the times we boon-docked in 5-8 site National Forest campgrounds where it was like just pulling off the road into the woods with a pit toilet (if
lucky) and occasionally a hand-pump well for water. I think the reason that Pamela felt we were camping in Willy was that Willy was not new and seemed so much smaller. With everything being new and the sense of great room inside, Sinni gives more the impression of an apartment on wheels.

I'm sure that our full-timer friends who live in forty foot class-A (buses) or large class-C (living units built onto a truck cab and chassis) get a giggle out of this perception. Their laughter is never derisive or hurtful. They, like us, are people who prefer to live in the peace and beauty of the wilderness, escaping the harsh, cold and snowy winters of the north by heading south at season's end, and giving our lives purpose, meaning and excitement by living and working in parks or forests. I'm sure they think of us when they have to buy ten new tires at $1000 each.

Sinni arrives at her new home in Glacier National Park. 

Pamela and I are so happy that we have the health and ability to do what we do. We are frugal but, perhaps more importantly, we enjoy and prefer the simple. We didn't pick Sinni because she was less expensive than a 40' class-A or giant trailer with half a dozen slides. We picked Sinni because she met our needs and wishes. We only gave up Willy because we needed a walk-around bed for Pamela's Restless Leg Syndrome (a painful and potentially debilitating chronic neurological disease). Sinni is short enough to go almost anywhere, and light enough that we don't need a monster diesel to pull her. She has a full bath, complete with bathtub (Pamela's requirement) and a good gas stove with an oven (my requirement). She has a double axle, which we feel is essential for road stability and safety. Everything else are perks . . . electric tongue jack, solar ready, solar panels, stereo with external speakers, outside shower, winter packet, etc.

We don't seek the simple to prove a point or make a social statement. (Although I guess our life-style does demonstrate that Americans can live much more simply and not only be comfortable but save a lot of money.) We live our simpler life-style because it is what we enjoy. In the past three years our free-spirit, on-the-road life-style has taken us to 21 states from Florida to Washington.

Whether you want to call the way we live "camping" or just "dragging our home behind us" it is what we want. The difference between our ideas of 'camping' doesn't matter. Willy was home and now Sinni is rapidly earning that distinction.  

Hungry Horse Reservoir

We had a great afternoon completing our exploration of the Hungry Horse Reservoir. It took us two days, but we drove the entire 116 miles around the reservoir and stopped at every campground and boondock camping area. The campgrounds cost $13/night. The boondock areas are all free. Some of them even have pit toilets. We decided that we would prefer to camp on the west side since the camping areas there have much more panoramic views and are looking at the dramatic mountains of the Flathead Range that run through the Great Bear Wilderness.

Hungry Horse gets its name from a story of two draft horses that wandered off into these mountains in the winter. They survived and were found  some days later very skinny and very hungry.

We drove counter-clockwise today starting at the dam. Early into our exploration we spotted an Osprey nest high atop what appeared to be a tall lodge pole pine. This was a burn area and recovering beautifully. I was able to get some good pictures. The mountains behind her in the close-up are Great Northern Mountain and Mt Grant. Stanton and Grant glaciers are just out of sight.

I love the mountain ash especially when it is heavy with bright red berries. That especially true when my picture shows Great Northern Mountain in the background. We had a snack at this spot - a boat ramp near one of the campgrounds. The view was spectacular. The reason that it appears a bit hazy is smoke from forest fires far to the west. 

This picture is looking at a small inlet on which there was an unnamed (boondock - no charge) campground. It had enough room for 5 campers. The reason that we know that is that that is how many there were. You just have to know it's there. I took GPS coordinates so I can mark it on a map and we can find it again. I put the truck into 4 wheel drive to get out. The climb was just short of 300 feet in less than 1/2 mile. You can see how narrow the road is, and there's a rather big drop if you get off. 

Actually driving along the west side of Hungry Horse reminds me of driving the Going-to-the-Sun Road except this one is gravel and the drops are only 2-300 feet as opposed to 800-1000 on the Going-to-the-Sun. But, as the old saying goes, 'it isn't the fall that kills you. It's the sudden stop.'

Our new hometown, Columbia Falls, is just over the mountain (Columbia Mtn) from the entrance to the Hungry Horse National Forest, and it is about 7-8 miles from the west gate to Glacier Nat'l Park. Since we have explored every road that went down to the lake, we want to start exploring roads that head up into the mountains and start making notes on the geology of these areas. It is a magnificent area.